Europe Wrestles With Rise in Recruitment of Youngsters to Carry Out Violence

Europol said the crime often involves ’the use of young perpetrators to carry out threats, assaults, or killings for a fee.’

Police officers attend after a shooting at Clemenceau metro station in Brussels, Belgium on Feb. 5, 2025. Sylvain Plazy/AP

The European Union police force (Europol) recently launched an operational task force to “tackle the rising trend of violence-as-a-service” and the recruitment of young people by organized crime syndicates.

“Violence-as-a-service refers to the outsourcing of violent acts to criminal service providers,” Europol said in its April 29 announcement.